Letters | Ethically made products and gun safety

Ethically made products

"Finding 'ethically made' clothing isn't easy" (May 1, Page B4): This article seems to serve two purposes. It blames consumers for corporate misbehavior, while simultaneously reassuring consumers that we can do no better because we are powerless.

Both these implications are wrong and harmful.

How, then, can we respond to the drumbeat of industrial deaths and foreseeable "accidents" that kill and maim hundreds of workers who are so desperate and powerless that they will reluctantly enter a visibly cracked building or a known fire trap?

First, the U.S. government can follow the lead of its Bangladeshi counterpart and seize the assets of criminally negligent corporations. It can also deny government contracts to corporate scofflaws.

Similarly, The Courier-Journal should refuse advertising from, and cease printing the logos of, companies connected to industrial catastrophes and union-busting, here or abroad. Indeed it's ironic, if not surprising, that a giant logo of Apple Computer - it of Foxconn infamy - appears on the facing page from the sob story about "ethically made" clothing.

Finally, the fact is, it's not that difficult to find or afford ethically made products; easier still is to ask every store manager how their products were made or sourced, and refuse to buy if the manager doesn't know. We are not powerless; we just act that way.

AVERY KOLERS

Louisville 40205 -

Guns for children

The Courier-Journal's editorial and Sunday's four letters on the tragedy of a 5-year-old killing his 2-year-old sister all did a good job of blaming the gun manufacturer for marketing guns for children. But, I have a different take on what is wrong.

Let me quote the original article (CJ, May 2). Community and business leaders in Burkesville "saw nothing unusual about giving a rifle to such a young child." And the second quote about the parents - "These are good people, a normal, average Kentucky family who love their children very much."

The problem is not that there are small, pretty-color guns made for children, but rather that any gun is given to children and/or that proper gun control by adults is not exercised. This is such a sad story and it didn't have to happen.

VIC PEO

Louisville 40229 -

Gun safety

I was deeply saddened to read the story of the 5-year-old boy accidentally killing his 2-year-old sister with a child's rifle given to him as a gift. I can imagine the deep heartache of the adult who gave him the gun. Some will say the child should not have a rifle... but safety instruction would not have been lost on the boy.

Growing up in the country in the late 1930s and early 1940s, I and nearly all my friends owned either a .22 rifle or a shotgun. Our fathers made sure we were aware of safety rules. Here is what I learned at about age 7 or 8 when my father first took me target shooting with our .22 rifle and I never forgot the lessons:

? NEVER point the gun at another person or anything else you do not intend to shoot.